Friday, December 15, 2006

Where are they now?

Yesterday while I was procrastinating and not getting any writing done I decided to do a little web surfing to see if I could track down a couple of my childhood friends. I found a number of them and oddly enough most have normal upper middle class lives -- Doctors, Lawyers, one went in to local politics in California. Then I came across 2 of my very good friends who I lost contact with right after HS.
The first one, we'll call him Poncho, is now a defense lawyer specializing in "The Mob". Yes, the "The Mob". This is perfect, You have to understand, this is the same guy that talked me into running away to Pittsburgh to become miners when we were in 9th grade. He got thrown out of a number of High Schools as well as private schools. I also heard that he was involved in a scandal at a prominent Prep School. He could sell snow to eskimos and get them to return the snow when they were done with it. He always managed to survive and get his way. And he could argue. HE could argue with you until you just had to give in. He would rant and rave, pull his hair out of his head. It was as amusing as it was effective. Well, now he has his own practice and has defended a number of high profile mobsters, who's names you would probably recognize. Well done Poncho, well done....

The second one, who we will call Goofy, also played to his strengths. He was the consumate bullshit artist. He had a story for every occassion, but unlike Poncho, we never believed him. He also would do just about anything to get a woman. If she wanted him to be taller he would have put lifts in his shoes. If she wanted him bald he would have shaved his head. So now, I find out that he has been a highly respected "Motivational Speaker/Author)" for some years, (though highly respected and motivational speaker don't really sit well together) and now, he has found Jesus. It was only a matter of time. Keep in mind he was born Jewish and attended a well known Hebrew Day School. I read his little bio and he says his new wife, "Showed him the way", yeah I bet she did. And if she had happened to be Mao-ist, he'd be running around in one of those little hats and riding a bicycle everywhere. If she had been Shaker he'd be making rocking chairs. If she was a Mormon he'd be running around with the Magic Sunglasses. Still the Bullshit artist. But now he is getting paid for it. It all just makes perfect sense.

I often ask myself how I got to where I am now. It seems to me the path was not as bizarre as some others .... and I take comfort in that.

What's new and Interesting in the World of Charlie?

Well let's see.
1. There is another youngin' on the way, (she is due in late April) yes it's a girl. We don't like surprises. To quote a very funny man, Paul Reiser "It's one of two things, if it's a third thing, say an Owl, I would like to know, only good can come from knowing."

2. The new child brings with it all kinds of joyous life altering situations. To start with, we never really planned for 2 kids so our lovely Brooklyn home does not have enough rooms to raise the new forthcoming seedling. So, off with roof and a third story will be built. The new floor will house not only my wife and I, but my new spacious office as well. My office in the basement will be home to our soon to be live in nanny/babysitter. Now I am the last person I would ever have thought would have a live in nanny. Unfortunately we have no choice. As soon as my wife goes back to work after the child arrives, I will be (hopefully will be) going into pre-production on my next film. That will not leave a lot of time for diaper changing and drop offs and pick ups to school. So that's where the new nanny comes in. We found a woman who id great, gets a long great with the current rugrat and is completely qualified to mind the forth-coming heir to the Charlie Empire. (Well, one man's empire is another man's walk in closet).

3. My last film project is just about ready to go into the final phases of postproduction and then hopefully a sale to a major cable company. Last Girl On Earth has honored me by agreeing to compose the soundtrack for the movie. I can't wait to hear what she comes up with.

4. While I put the finishing touches on RLD I have already began to lay the groundwork for my next film. While it's a bigger project than my last one, I think it will be easier to shoot. After this last movie, I have a whole new respect for people who do large scale war movies. shooting battle scenes is no easy task. give me four guys sitting in a room talking and making jokes any day of the week!!! The good news is the next film will be shot right here in Brooklyn. So I will get to roll out of bed and pretty much be on set in 5 minutes. That should beat the heck out of 16 days in a hotel in Maryland and 30 days away from home.

I am going to try and start writing regularly again. I have been so busy that I haven't really had a chance to be pissed off about what's going on in the world. I think I am ready to start ranting again.